Friday, July 30, 2010

Learning is NOT always fun

New things I've learned this week:
  1. Dogs can have allergies
  2. Allergies can cause eye and ear infections
  3. Dogs can also need root canals
  4. All of the above are expensive to treat, if you don't have health insurance
  5. Guess who doesn't have health insurance?  Dogs. Specifically, my dog.
AND in the time is took me to write this, Sasquatch took off with both kitchen towels.  Good times in puppy land.
Remember when you looked like this, puppy?

Currently choreographing

17 Years by Ratatat
  •  modern duet with 9 crates the dancers stack and push and move around.  It's very industrial but playful. 
Home by Marc Brousssard
  • four little girls in workman jumpsuits with push-brooms.  bluesy jazz.  Man is it hard to find jumpsuits in children's sizes that don't say "correctional facility" on the back.
Game On by Pitbull
  • latin/pumped-up-for-the-game jazz.  I'm trying to trick this out so my girls can win at competition, but it goes against my very nature. 
Good Vibrations Glee Cast Version
  • this is supposed to be an old-school hip-hop duet for an 8 and 9-year old.  I am praying for inspiration like my mom said to do.

All are in progress (okay, Good Vibrations has not been started), all due by 9am Saturday morning.  I am feeling overwhelmed, but excited that I am four dances away from being done with work in Austin and starting my new job at Whitworth! 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Losing it

Terrible headache last night.  I have two kinds of really bad headaches: those during which I keep my cool, and those that turn me into a weepy mess.  Over the course of the past year, with near-constant migraines, I got better and better at keeping my cool.  Migraines that would have had me sobbing in the dark five years ago, skipping class even though I knew I'd lose 4% of my grade, were now my companion all the time, and I couldn't just lie in the dark all the time.  So with God's energy (because I had none), I dress-rehearsed shows, fit pointe shoes, taught dance to dozens of 5-year-olds, and led my d goup, and most of the time I did these things without falling apart.  I found it was helpful to 1) cut out any unnecessary activity, even if I really loved it (goodbye dance company, blogging) and 2) be really honest with the people around me that I was in pain.  Poor Travis had to hear it every day, but at least I wasn't keeping it to myself and then pouring it out in tears once a week. 
About 3 months ago, all this changed.  I finished the slow process of going off all my preventative medications (under the guidance of my favorite neurologist), cut out a few foods that were against my migraine diet but I'd been sneaking anyway (goodbye, pickles, you gave flavor to everything . . .), and received a huge gift from God: less migraines.  Far less.  Over the course of the past 3 months, I've had maybe 10 headaches that I'd describe as real migraines.  I've observed that some of them have been more severe and lasted longer than this past year- they fit the traditional model for my headaches up until this year, though, and the frequency fits too.  I'm really optimistic that I'm back to being a 4 migraine a month kind of girl (down from 20-25).  There has been lots of praising God in our household, and I feel like myself again.
However, when I do get a migraine now, or three in a row like I've had the last three days, it's very easy for me to lose my cool.  I forget the peace that God offers me and skip straight to being terrified that the constant pain is back.  The pain is mixed with anxiousness and regret and uncertainty, and it makes it a lot harder to fall asleep (if I'm in the position to do so) or go about my day (if I have to). 
This morning I woke up almost pain free (I took medicine, of course- my headaches take a long time go away on their own), with a very sore neck, but relaxed eyes, which is a good sign that it won't be back soon.  Migraine sleep isn't very refreshing, but I do feel refreshed by the clarity the morning brings.  Wherever I go, even if it's back into migraine-shadow, God is with me.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Travis quotes

After the Rangers game tonight, I turned on Make It or Break It, the cheesiest/best/only show about gymnastics.
Travis: I hate this show
Me: You hate this show?
Travis: Yes.  This show makes me hate people.
Me: Does it make you hate me?
Travis: No . . . but I wish there was another character on this show . . . who was an assassin.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Big mistakes

1) Say Yes to the Dress is a tv show is about a bridal store.  They always talk about how it's very important to pin down a budget with a bride, and only let her try on dresses within her budget.  Otherwise, she might try on and fall in love with something that's completely out of her price range, and then be heartbroken and unhappy in any other dress.  I've just committed the choreography equivalent of this error.  I have been trying for weeks to find the perfect song for a latin jazz dance I'm setting on my girls on Saturday.  NOTHING is right.  Not enough pop, not enough latin, not enough to dance to, not appropriate for 12-year-olds . . . And I finally fell in love with a song.  However, upon translation I realize that it is about a hotel-room tryst, and way into the realm of inappropriate for 12-year-olds.  On the one hand, they might not translate it.  On the other hand, there is an English-language version that lays it out pretty clearly.  Give a girl a break, Shakira!
2) I was about to go pick up props for my dances, then go to the studio and choreograph.  There is SO MUCH to be done.  But I walk outside and it starts storming.  Texas-style.  Which means there is no going anywhere unless you absolutely have to.  So I decided that I need to at least do something else productive.  The house needs to be mostly cleaned and packed by next Monday.  The logical place to start was un-folded laundry.  So I pulled it all out.  All of the unfolded laundry in the house.  And you know what?  It won't even fit on our couch.  We're looking at HOURS of laundry folding here, with more in the washer and dryer.

It's go time.

Also, if you know of a song that sounds exactly like "Lo Hecho Esta Hecho"/ "Did It Again," but isn't that song, let me know . . . 

Compare and Contrast, part 1

Washington
Now that we are saying goodbye to Texas, I am thinking a lot about it, about what I love here, and about how Washington will be different.  I remember feeling some culture shock when we first moved here two years ago.  It was slight, because Austin is basically Portland in the middle of Texas.  But it was definitely there.  Here are some things I've noticed that are not the same in Washington (at least the parts I've lived in) and Texas (the part I've lived in):
TREES
There are big, beautiful trees in Austin.  Mostly oak, cedar, walnut, pecan, and mesquite.  Many of them flower in spring and early summer, turning the city a dozen shades of pink.  Then many of them change colors in fall, and look barren in winter and early spring.  During migration periods, they are so full of tropical-sounding birds that you can barely see the tree behind the birds, and parking under a tree is hazardous.  They give everyone allergies, even a girl from the forest who's never had allergies in her life, and especially her poor husband.

In Washington, the trees make Texas trees look like shrubs.  Their branches stretch out toward the ground rather than twisting up to the sun, and they are tangled with underbrush that grows so thick you can't walk between them.  They are mostly evergreens and maple, and they keep the landscape green even in the middle of winter.  They make up actual forests, and cast everything in shade.
GEOGRAPHY
Texas is flat.  We live in the heart of the Texas hill country, and there are definitely hills.  Many of them are even called mountains.  Mount Bonnell, in west-central Austin, is a quaint 780 feet above sea level.  The highest peak in Austin is the flat plateau where we live and I work, at 1100 feet.  There is a real mountain in West Texas, but it looks more like something out of a John Wayne movie than a winter wonderland.  This is, after all West Texas, the actual Wild West.
Guadalupe Peak, TX
Washington, on the other hand, is like God took a lump of play dough, started to flatten it out with all the different play utensils he could find, and then got distracted and left it a big, lumpy mess.  There are gorges and two mountain ranges and huge bodies of water that twist their way around the land.  The mountains don't rival Colorado, say, but the difference is that you can go from the ocean to a snow-covered mountain in just a few hours. 
Mt. Rainier, WA

Sunday, July 25, 2010

LOTR Commentary, Part 2 (this movie is HOW long?!)

It's dark out now. Watching the Return of the King without Travis here is looking like a worse and worse idea. Did I mention I scare easily? And I totally forgot about the whole paths of the dead thing, which I did not remember at all when I was reading the books. So: Sasquatch and I have closed all the blinds and checked the locks. Luckily she is a pro barker with a fierce protective streak.
Commentary continued:
That Gollum is such a jerk! He threw away the lembas, and convinced Frodo that Sam is his enemy! Not in the book. The steward of Gondor is a jerk too, telling Faromir he preferred his brother. That is in the book.
On the other hand, Theoden, king of Rohan, is great. I liked him in the book, and in the movie. I love how Legolas and Gimli ride together on a horse. I bet that when Tolkien was writing the books, and he decided to have them ride everywhere together, he had no idea how cute it would look on film.
Sometimes I like to think about this: if the people I know were living in New Zealand when the LOTR movies were filmed, what would they be cast as? Travis could be a human. I would probably be a hobbit. And Sasquatch would be an oliphant, obviously.
See the resemblance?
Actually, she could be Shadowfax, Gandalf's horse, because Shadowfax is fast, loyal, and beautiful.
Gandalf just knocked out Lord Denethor, the steward of Gondor, because he was being chicken. It was awesome!

Halfway there! I just switched to disk 2, and went to put disc 1 in its Netflix return envelope to send back. The only problem: there's a huge bite taken out of the middle of the envelope. I wonder who did that?
If we are only now getting to the giant spider, then what did Frodo and Sam do for all of the second movie? Fall down a lot? That's probably it. It's getting close now. Time to turn the volume down. It's the best way I know to make an intense scene a little less scary.
Sam found the lembas bread! Now he just has to find/rescue Frodo. Not a big deal.
Sam is fighting Shelob, the spider. I have given up sitting on the big couch, which Sasquatch is not aloud to sit on, and gone to sit next to her on the smaller couch (which is fair game for puppies when covered by the green blankets).
Here comes the king of the Nazgul. He fights with a mace. Time to defeat him, Eowyn and Charlie from LOST. Eowyn just said "I am no man." After the King of the Nazgul was all "No man can kill me." In the words of my sistas, the Spice Girls, GIRL POWER.
If someone ever says to me, "I hold your oath fulfilled. Go. Be at peace," I will know that something big just went down, even if I'm having short-term memory loss.
Mordor looks way scarier in the movie than I pictured it when I was reading. I guess that's the benefit of not watching scary things: my brain doesn't go there automatically. I was picturing West Texas, maybe, with a few less cacti (though definitely still cacti), and a few more orcs.
Now my favorite thing from the books is going to happen. Sweet Eowyn and even sweeter Faromir are going to fall in love. I hope she doesn't stay angsty too long. They are going to be so happy together! Also, the music that plays around Eowyn reminds me of Riverdance.
Sam's big speech! "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" Don't you just want to chant "RUDY. RUDY"?
And then a bunch of eagles randomly show up. I forgot about the talking Eagles. I hope they at least don't talk in the movie. WHAT?! They just rescued Frodo and Sam. Those Eagles are HUGE. Unnecessary, Peter Jackson.
And now everything's peachy. Even the lighting is peachy. Thank you for keeping me and Sassy company during the scary parts, blog. I don't think we'll need you for all ten endings.

LOTR, amateur style

Success. I finally read the Lord of the Rings books. It took me months, and not a small amount of moaning and complaining to Travis about 1,000 pages of:
  • unnecessary poetry/songs
  • an over-abundance of landscape descriptions
  • foreboding, foreboding, and more foreboding
  • creepy Gollum
  • Frodo fainting/falling down
I have of course seen the movies, though not for a long time, and I was surprised that I did not remember a lot of things that happened in them. I told several people this, and they unfailingly responded, "well, there's a lot in the books that didn't happen in the movies." But when I told them that I didn't remember about the giant spider, or the battle at Minas Tirith, or Frodo getting captured, they agreed that those were major plot points, definitely covered in the movies.
Mostly I don't remember anything about the Return of the King, so I netflixed it. And, because thorough is my middle name, I ordered the extended version. What was I thinking? Over 4 hours of hobbits falling down and foreboding? The two discs have been sitting on our table for a week now, taunting me.
But I guess since I'm procrastinating, and Travis is at a Rangers game with our friend Andrew (hopefully watching them beat the Angels), now is my chance. Sasquatch is keeping me company, because neither of us like battles, and I don't guarantee that we'll finish it, but we're making an effort. I am going to blog while watching, because I am not good at only doing one thing at a time, especially when that one thing is not dancing.
I will give commentary for a little bit:
So far, everything is out of order, which makes sense because the books cover one entire storyline at a time (and audiences can only handle so much fainting Frodo at once), but it's jarring. Also, everyone is standing around drinking and celebrating after Helm's Deep, which did not happen. Make haste, people! You are going to be late to the battle at Minis Tirith!
Also, Frodo and Sam are still with Gollum. Does that mean that they haven't got to the spider yet? I was hoping to miss it, since it's supposed to be in the second book.

Ah, yes. Gollum is talking about it now. They are going to the spider. That wouldn't be scary to me, obviously, but I'm pretty sure Sasquatch would have nightmares, so we'll have the remote at ready.
Man that Andy Sirkus (Gollum) is a terrific actor!

Also also, have you read
There and Back Again? It's Sean Astin (Sam)'s account of the filming of the movies. Of course I read this years ago, long before reading the books; I may be the kind of person that real fans can't stand. Okay, Gandalf just said, "Run, Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste." Awesome.
Sasquatch is very impatient with this movie. She would rather try to eat my mukluks, Travis' frisbees, and every sock in the house.
I am having fun watching this movie after seeing my best friend Amy's pictures of her LOTR location tour in New Zealand. I would be having even more fun if Amy were in the movie. Why can't you have been there 10 years earlier, Bern? You are perfect Hobbit height!
The king of the Nazgul just left Minis Morgul, guys. Orcs are approaching Osgiliath by boat. It's about to get real heavy. Time for a snack.
Ha! I couldn't remember the name of Osgiliath, so I looked it up on the Lord of the Rings wiki (like wikipedia but just for LOTR), and guess what? The tagline is "One Wiki to Rule Them All."

Now and then

I am officially done with my 9-5 (or really 9-7:30, since it's retail) job. I have one more week in Austin, and it will be jam-packed with goodbyes, packing, cleaning, and choreography. Especially choreography. This coming weekend I have 4 dances to teach my dance students, my last thing to do in Austin before I can head up to Spokane and start work! I am excited (about Whitworth), and relieved (to be done at my current job), and stressed out (about all the work that needs to be done by Saturday) all at once.
You know what this reminds me of? College. In college, there is always something you have to do, something you've just finished, and something you are about to start. I think I was much better at dealing with it then than I am now. I have been non-stop busy for the last year and a half, but now when I have any amount of time to myself, I have much more trouble
Free time, then and now:
Then: 20 minute nap, make a huge amount of penne pasta with marinara, go straight to work. Now: take 2 hour nap, make a huge amount of bow-tie pasta with marinara, play with Sasquatch, come in after 5 minutes because it's hot, write a blog, read for a while, try to clean my house, try to play with Sasquatch again, take Sasquatch's frisbee away from her because she's eating it again . . .
You know what was always a good incentive for me? Grades. Maybe I should ask Travis to make me a report card.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Obviously

Travis: Seal Island. I want to go there someday.
Jeannie: Where is it?
Travis: Off the coast of Madagascar, I think. Or South Africa.
Jeannie: You can see seals on the Oregon coast. You want to go all the way to South Africa?
Travis: I don't want to go to see seals. I want to go to see great whites eat the seals.

Actual pictures from Seal Island:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Do you want to talk about my dog?!

Lately I've been feeling like I've run out of words. My freshman year of college, my roommate Chelsea would sometimes be in the middle of a story, and then just peter off into "words, words words . . ." And that would be it. She was, and is, hilarious. But also practical, because sometimes you're tired and just lose the desire to finish your sentence. And when those times come, it's nice to have a little transition phrase at your disposal.
For example,
"We saw Inception last night. Travis and I can't figure out how everybody can have a dream together in the first place. But what I really can't stop thinking about is . . . words words words."
This is useful for when your brain is tired, because you're up all night thinking about the movie Inception.
or
"The AC went out at work and words words words."
I like that last one because then I don't have to talk about the heat again, because all I do in Texas is talk about the heat.
or
"Sasquatch had a vet appointment today, her last one in words words words"
Good for avoiding talk about moving when you don't want to be weepy. Also good for diverting the conversation from talk about your dog when you realize that you are talking about your dog AGAIN, and you have become that person that talks about their pet all the time.

Also, while I was at the vet today I overheard one of the vet techs calling in a prescription for insulin to the pharmacy. Insulin for a dog. Really? Can dogs get type 2 diabetes? Because Sasquatch really likes to lick the dough crumbs off the floor when I'm baking, and words words words.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Did that just happen?

Have you ever had a cluster headache? This is what it feels like: you're sitting on the couch, eating lunch (because your dining table is covered with stuff), or you're driving home from work, or you're pulling a pair of tap shoes to try on a little girl. And then it feels like you're being stabbed in the eye, and you can't breathe. You don't take any medicine, because you know that in less than a minute it'll be over (in my case). And then it is. It fades away just gradually enough that you wonder if maybe it wasn't really that bad, and start to question your ability to accurately judge pain.
Repeat 2-5 times.
I prefer cluster headaches to migraines because they are much shorter and don't affect your vision, but they really make me feel like I'm losing it sometimes. I only started getting cluster headaches about a year ago, so I think someday I'll be able to have them without wondering if I'm really having them, or if it's all in my head (which it IS, in a way. Confusing).
Also confusing (and awesome). My friend Devin's dog Indy plays dead when Devin says Avada Kedavra. How did that dog get so smart? Sasquatch is my sweet darling, but I don't think she'll ever be able to do that. Travis thinks that instead we should teach her to backflip when she hears the SportsCenter theme music.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Puppet remix


This is not the first time I've posted a video of Travis with a puppet.


Taken at the visitor center at the Hoh Rainforest. Also featured at that visitor center:


Close-up:

Where's Waldo?

Last month we went to La Push, WA with my parents. It was, in the words of my dad, amaaaaaaazing. Find us on this log!







My dad has managed to barter his way into a bunch more nights at the cabins where we stayed. Who knew you could trade picnic tables and boomstick ends for hotel rooms? My dad, that's who. We can't wait to go back again!

All grown up

Yesterday Sasquatch was 10 months old. Here is a video of her looking super dignified and grown up.

I am pleased to announce that Sasquatch has, as forseen by everyone but me, mellowed out and turned into a normal dog. She still destroys her beds (I think she's destroyed 4, or maybe 5), drinks the grossest water she can find, and barks at strangers (a new development, actually, and very embarrassing). But she also comes when called, lies down for more than 30 seconds at a time, and can be near people without chewing on them. Vast improvements if you knew the psycho-puppy of 6 months ago. In fact, while playing with her new friend Shadle last week, Sasquatch sat patiently while Shadle went all puppy-crazy on her. It was a thing of beauty.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Observations on TLC shows

When Travis goes golfing, I watch TLC.
  • How many shows are there about cakes? What is the demand for all this supply?
  • Commercials for cupcake shows should be illegal. They make me frenzied with cupcake hunger, and I can't forget it because every 5 minutes . . . there's another cupcake promo!
  • Things learned from Say Yes to the Dress: DON'T take anyone to your wedding dress appointment that doesn't have the exact same taste as you. Don't take your fiance. Don't take his mom (unless you're really close and there is NO potential awkwardness). Don't, for the love of all that is good and beautiful, take your father. Also, you might be really close with your dad, but he's probably not your best friend. And you'll learn that when you take him to your wedding dress appointment.
  • Customer on Say Yes to the Dress just now: "I'm an obnoxious person, and I'd like an obnoxious dress." Really?!
  • The Duggars have a lot of money. If you don't have a lot of money, don't have 19 kids. Also, I love the Duggars! I can't wait for all those teenage daughters to fall in love and and have their own wedding specials.
  • I truly believe that I could use a What Not to Wear make-over. I am clueless when it comes to looking my age. Help me, Stacy, Clinton, Carmandy, and especially you, Nick Arrogio. You have free reign with my hair, and I know you wouldn't even dream of touching it with hair dye.
  • Toddlers and Tiaras is not as bad as Travis thinks it is (though Little Miss Perfect is even better). There is always at least one redeemable character, usually a sweet dad.
Travis is back from golfing. I was watching sports the whole time. You know nothing.

p.s. Apparently the cupcake ladies make "pupcakes" too. Sasquatch and I both want cupcakes now.

Details

Who: Travis, Sasquatch, me
What: Moving
When: I'll be driving up (road trip with my mom! Here's hoping we don't both get heat stroke in my AC-free car) the first week of August. Travis and Sasquatch will follow soon afterward at an as-yet-to-be-determined date. '
Where: Spokane, WA. It feels like so long since we've lived there, maybe because we got married and it's hard to imagine not being married to Travis. But really it's only been 2 years. We are still hunting for a place to start out, most likely an apartment somewhere north-ish.
WHY?! This is the best part, ya'll: I got a job at Whitworth (where we went to school). An amazing dream job working with a really cool group of people, doing something I'm really excited about, at my favorite place on earth. And Travis is coming along for the ride because he is the best, most supportive husband (prayers for him to find an awesome job would be greatly appreciated). I'll be working in the Admissions department, which means lots of travel, new experiences, and a start to what will hopefully be a career in higher ed. I am beyond stoked and grateful and really ready to start. Not ready to leave Austin, but ready to start. Sasquatch is ready for the snow. Here we come!

Getting started. Again.

It has been many months since I blogged. I started this blog as a way to keep my far-away family and friends updated after we moved away to Texas. I took a long break from blogging because of my migraines (more on that soon), and I am starting up again because 1) My head is doing great (again, more soon), and 2) We will once again be moving very far away from many of our dear family and friends, this time to Washington.
There are 0 things about moving at which I am any good. Not packing, unpacking, driving long distances, cleaning, getting things organized, or saying goodbyes. I am actually a monumental failure at 4 of those 6 things. Travis is a bit of a rolling stone. He loves change, and new places, and gets restless and ready for the next adventure quite easily. I am more of a homebody, and while I love trying new things, I also love going back to my same home and my same bed afterward. And I stick to people like superglue.
Here is a brief (hopefully) and partial list of things I will miss about our life here in Austin:
  • the perfect location of our apartment (2 movie theaters, dozens of restaurants, 4 grocery stores, and a Michaels within walking distance)
  • easy access to the best bbq in the country (don't argue unless you've been to the Salt Lick)
  • all the creeks and trails, especially the creeks that you can walk down the middle of with your puppy, even in the winter
  • the lack of spiders
  • the great burrito places, and especially the Freebirds frequent burrito card
  • my dance students, and the beautiful dance studio with very bouncy floors where I teach
  • the going-on-9th grade girls in my d-group at church
  • the fellow youth leaders at Covenant who welcomed us into their group on our 2nd day here (seriously) and have made us feel welcome ever since
  • Covenant itself, its pastors and staff, and everyone there
  • chik-fil-A lemonade (maybe I should just make a separate list for food and drink . . .
  • Schlitterbahn and 2 Six Flags parks
  • our beautiful, huge, and ridiculously affordable apartment
  • doing pointe fittings at Capezio
  • Borealis, and everyone in it
  • the way the birds sound all tropical, and the humidity feels all tropical, and sometimes you walk out of the grocery store and think "am I in Hawaii?"
  • cheap gas (the flipside: dairy is more expensive here, which Travis says is because "we EAT our cows in Texas"
  • a city that all the best musicians come to, including Regina Spektor (who never plays in the Northwest)
  • being able to jump on the highway to get anywhere
  • Alamo Drafthouse
  • the super cheap and delicious produce specials at Sprouts
  • the weather October-February
  • the prepared foods section at the Whole Foods flagship
  • and most of all our amazing Texas family